CHRONOLOGY (from the Greekχρονολογία, computation of time) is the science which treats of time. Its object is to arrange and exhibit the various events which have occurred in the history of the world in the order of their succession, and to ascertain the intervals of time between them.

The preservation of any record, however rude, of the lapse of time implies some knowledge of the celestial motions, by which alone time can be accurately measured, and some advancement in the arts of civilized life, which could only be attained by the accumulated experience of many generations. Before the invention of letters the memory of past transactions could not be preserved beyond a few years with any tolerable degree of accuracy. Events which greatly affected the physical condition of the human race, or were of a nature to make a deep impression on the minds of the rude inhabitants of the earth, might be vaguely transmitted through several ages by traditional narrative; but intervals of time, expressed by abstract numbers, and these constantly varying besides, would soon escape the memory. The invention of the art of writing afforded the means of substituting precise and permanent records for vague and evanescent tradition; but in the infancy of the world, mankind had learned neither to estimate accurately the duration of time, nor to refer passing events to any fixed epoch. Writing was practised many centuries before historians began to assign dates to the events they narrated. The masterpieces of Herodotus and Thucydides, while setting forth, each in the manner suited to the author's aim, events in the order of their succession, are stories without dates.

﻿For these reasons the history of the early ages of the world is involved in almost impenetrable obscurity, and chronology, comparatively speaking, is only of recent origin. After political relations began to be established, the necessity of preserving a register of passing seasons and years would soon be felt, and the practice of recording important transactions must have grown up as a necessary consequence of social life. But of these early records a very small portion only has escaped the ravages of time and barbarism.

﻿The earliest written annals of the Greeks, Etruscans, and
Romans are irretrievably lost. The traditions of the Druids
perished with them. A Chinese emperor has the credit of
burning “the books” extant in his day (about 220B.C.),
and of burying alive the scholars who were acquainted
with them. And a Spanish adventurer destroyed the picture
records which were found in the pueblo of Montezuma.﻿Of the more formal historical writings in which the first
ineffectual attempts were made in the direction of systematic
chronology we have no knowledge at first-hand. Of
Hellenicus, the Greek logographer, who appears to have
lived through the greater part of the 5th centuryB.C., and
who drew up a chronological list of the priestesses of Hera
at Argos; of Ephorus, who lived in the 4th centuryB.C.,
and is distinguished as the first Greek who attempted the
composition of a universal history; and of Timæus, who
in the following century wrote an elaborate history of
Sicily, in which he set the example of using the Olympiads
as the basis of chronology, the works have perished, and
our meagre knowledge of their contents is derived only
from fragmentary citations in later writers. The same fate
has befallen the works of Berosus and Manetho, Eratosthenes
and Apollodorus. Berosus, a priest of Belus living at
Babylon in the 3d centuryB.C., added to his historical
account of Babylonia a chronological list of its kings, which
he claimed to have compiled from genuine archives
preserved in the temple. Manetho, likewise a priest, living
at Sebennytus in Lower Egypt in the 3d centuryB.C.,
wrote in Greek a history of Egypt, with an account of its
thirty dynasties of sovereigns, which he professed to have
drawn from genuine archives in the keeping of the priests.
Of these works fragments only, more or less copious and
accurate, have been preserved. Eratosthenes, who in the
latter half of the 2d centuryB.C. was keeper of the famous
Alexandrian Library, not only made himself a great name
by his important work on geography, but by his treatise
entitled Chronographia, one of the first attempts to establish
an exact scheme of general chronology, earned for himself
the title of “father of chronology.” His method of procedure, however, was usually conjectural; and guess-work,
however careful, acute, and plausible, is still guess-work and
not testimony. Apollodorus, an Athenian who flourished
in the middle of the 2d centuryB.C., wrote a metrical
chronicle of events, ranging from the supposed period of
the fall of Troy to his own day. These writers were
followed by other investigators and systematizers in the
same field, but their works are lost. Of the principal later
writers whose works are extant, and to whom we owe what
little knowledge we possess of the labours of their predecessors, mention will be made hereafter.﻿The absence or incompleteness of authentic records,
however, is not the only source of obscurity and confusion
in the chronology of remote ages. There can be no exact
computation of time or placing of events without a fixed
point or epoch from which the reckoning takes its start. It
was long before this was apprehended. When it began
to be seen, various epochs were selected by various writers;
and at first each small separate community had its own
epoch and method of time-reckoning. Thus in one city
the reckoning was by succession of kings, in another by
archons or annual magistrates, in a third by succession of
priests. It seems now surprising that vague counting by
generations should so long have prevailed and satisfied the
wants of inquiring men, and that so simple, precise, and
seemingly obvious a plan as counting by years, the largest
natural division of time, did not occur to any investigator
before Eratosthenes.﻿Precision, which was at first unattainable for want of an
epoch, was afterwards no less unattainable from the multiplicity, and sometimes the variation, of epochs. But by
a natural process the mischief was gradually and partially
remedied. The extension of intercourse between the various
small groups or societies of men, and still more their union
in larger groups, made a common epoch necessary, and led
to the adoption of such a starting point by each larger
group. These leading epochs continued in use for many
centuries. The task of the chronologer was thus simplified
and reduced to a study and comparison of dates in a few
leading systems.﻿The most important of these systems In what we call
ancient times were the Babylonian, the Greek, and the
Roman. The Jews had no general era, properly so called.
In the history of Babylonia, the fixed point from which
time was reckoned was the era of Nabonassar, 747B.C.
Among the Greeks the reckoning was by Olympiads, the
point of departure being the year in which Corœbus was
victor in the Olympic Games, 776B.C. The Roman
chronology started from the foundation of the city, the
year of which, however, was variously given by different
authors. The most generally adopted was that assigned
by Varro, 753B.C. It is noteworthy how nearly these
three great epochs approach each other,—all lying near the
middle of the 8th centuryB.C. But it is to be remembered
that the beginning of an era and its adoption and use as
such are not the same thing, nor are they necessarily
synchronous, Of the three ancient eras above spoken of,
the earliest is that of the Olympiads, next that of the
foundation of Rome, and the latest the era of Nabonassar.
But in order of adoption and actual usage the last is first.
It is believed to have been in use from the year of its
origin. It is not known when the Romans began to use
their era. The Olympiads were not in current use till
about the middle of the 3d centuryB.C., when Timæus, as
already mentioned, set the example of reckoning by them.
Of these and other ancient and modern eras a full account
is given in the following pages.﻿Even after the adoption in Europe of the Christian era,
a great variety of methods of dating—national, provincial,
and ecclesiastical—grew up and prevailed for a long time
in different countries, thus renewing in modern times the
difficulties experienced in ancient times from diversities of
reckoning. An acquaintance with these various methods
is indispensable to the student of the charters, chronicles,
and legal instruments of the Middle Ages.﻿In reckoning years from any fixed epoch in constant succession, the number denoting the years is necessarily always on the increase. But rude nations and illiterate people seldom attach any definite idea to large numbers. Hence it has been a practice, very extensively followed, to employ cycles or periods, consisting of a moderate number of years, and to distinguish and reckon the years by their number in the cycle. The Chinese and other nations of Asia reckon, not only the years, but also the months and days, by cycles of sixty. The Saros of the Chaldeans, the Olympiad of the Greeks, and the Roman Indiction are instances of this mode of reckoning time. Several cycles were formerly known in Europe; but most of them were invented for the purpose of adjusting the solar and lunar divisions of time, and were rather employed in the regulation of the calendar than as chronological eras. They are frequently, however, of very great use in fixing dates that have been otherwise imperfectly expressed, and consequently form important elements of chronology.﻿Chronology has shared with history the fruits of the
novel researches and remarkable discoveries in the field of
antiquity which have especially distinguished the present
century. The memorabilia of early peoples and ages were
set down not only in written records but in monumental
inscriptions. The latter, graven on stone or metal, could
resist the touch of time and the hand of the barbarian
better than the former; and although at various times
terrible havoc has been made among them, immense
numbers are in existence to this day. In Assyria, Egypt,
Persia, Greece, and Italy, the practice of monumental
inscription was very general. These inscriptions have
attracted the attention of learned men from very remote
ages. But as contributions to history and chronology, they
have within the present century risen into new and surprising importance. By Grotefend's decipherment of the
cuneiform characters, the language of the Babylonian and
Persian inscriptions, and by Young's decipherment of hieroglyphics, the language of the Egyptian monuments, two discoveries made within a few years of each other, new fields of
vast extent and unknown richness have been opened to historical explorers. These fields are now being diligently
worked by some of the greatest living scholars; and from
granite block and fragile papyrus roll results are already
obtained of rare value and of rarer promise. The Assyrian
inscribed cylinders, disinterred but thirty years ago, are
yielding up the secrets of a long-buried past, enlarging the
horizon of history, and even furnishing the means of giving
a precise chronology to periods where all was vague. The
publication of the Assyrian Canon by Sir Henry Rawlinson
in 1862, verified as it was by the subsequent discovery of
a record of a solar eclipse, must mark an epoch in chronological science. Egyptian researches and interpretations
have been of similar service, and have strongly tended, if
not to establish the complete accuracy, at least to indicate
the credibility, of Manetho's account of the Egyptian
dynasties. The period through which these dynasties
apparently reached was so vast, stretching so far beyond the
traditionally accepted limits of man's existence on the
earth, that modern chronologers, when they grew critical,
could for a long time only shake their heads in profound
doubt over Manetho and his vistas of shadowy kings. For
Egyptian chronology the discovery by Mariette, in 1864,
of the Apis Stelæ is one of the highest importance. A flood
of light has been poured on some obscure pages of early
Persian history by the great cuneiform inscription of
Behistun, discovered in 1835 by Colonel Rawlinson, who
subsequently copied and translated it.﻿In the article Calendar (q.v.), that part of chronology
has been already treated of which relates to the measurement of time, and the principal methods explained with
sufficient detail that have been employed, or are still in
use, for adjusting the lunar months of the solar year, as
well as the intercalations necessary for regulating the civil
year according to the celestial motions. In the present
article it is our purpose to give an account (without
repeating what has been discussed in full in the article just named) of the different Eras and Periods
that have been employed by historians, and by the
different nations of the world, in recording the succession of time and events, to fix the epochs at which the
eras respectively commenced, to ascertain the form and
the initial day of the year made use of, and to establish
their correspondence with the years of the Christian era.
These elements will enable us to convert, by a simple
arithmetical operation, any historical date, of which the
chronological characters are given according to any era
whatever, into the corresponding date in our common are
of the Incarnation.

Julian Period.

﻿Although the Julian Period (the invention of Joseph
Scaliger, in 1582) is not, properly speaking, a chronological
era, yet, on account of its affording considerable facilities
in the comparison of different eras with one another, and
in marking without ambiguity the years before Christ, it
is very generally employed by chronologers. It consists of
7980 Julian years; and the first year of the Christian era
corresponded with the year 4714 of the Julian period.
(See vol. iv. p. 670.)

Olympiads.

﻿The Olympic games, so famous in Greek history, were
celebrated once every four years, between the new and full
moon first following the summer solstice, on the small plain
named Olympia in Elis, which was bounded on one side by
the River Alpheus, on another by the small tributary stream
the Cladeus, and on the other two sides by mountains.
The games lasted five days. Their origin, lost in the
dimness of remote antiquity, was invested by priestly
legends with a sacred character. They were said to have
been instituted by the Idæan Heracles, to commemorate his
victory over his four brothers in a foot race. According to
a tradition, possibly more authentic, they were re-established
by Iphitus, king of Elis, in concert with the Spartan
Lycurgus and Cleosthenes of Pisa. The practice was long
afterwards adopted of designating the Olympiad, or period
of four years, by the name of the victor in the contests of
the stadium, and of inscribing his name in the gymnasium
of Olympia. The first who received this honour was
Corœbus. The games in which Corœbus was victor, and
which form the principal epoch of Greek history, were
celebrated about the time of the summer solstice 776 years
before the common era of the Incarnation, in the 3938th
year of the Julian period, and twenty-three years, according
to the account of Varro, before the foundation of Rome.
Before the introduction of the Metonic cycle, the
Olympic year began sometimes with the full moon which
followed, at other times with that which preceded the summer solstice, because the year sometimes contained 384
days instead of 354. But subsequently to its adoption, the
year always commenced with the eleventh day of the moon
which followed the solstice. In order to avoid troublesome
computations, which it would be necessary to recommence
for every year, and of which the results differ only by a
few days, chronologers generally regard the 1st of July as
the commencement of the Olympic year. Some authors, however, among whom are Eusebius, Jerome, and the historian
Socrates, place its commencement at the 1st of September;
these, however, appear to have confounded the Olympic
year with the civil year of the Greeks, or the era of the
Seleucidæ.﻿It is material to observe, that as the Olympic years and
periods begin with the 1st of July, the first six months of a
year of our era correspond to one Olympic year, and the
last six months to another. Thus, when it is said that the
first year of the Incarnation corresponds to the first of the
195th Olympiad, we are to understand that it is only with
respect to the last six months of that year that the
correspondence takes place. The first six months belonged
to the fourth year of the 194th Olympiad. In referring
dates expressed by Olympiads to our era, or the contrary,
we must therefore distinguish two cases.﻿1st, When the event in question happened between the 1st of January and the 1st of the following July, the sum of the Olympic year and of the year before Christ is always equal to 776. The year of the era, therefore, will be found by subtracting the number of the Olympic year from 776. For example, Varro refers the foundation of Rome to the 21st of April of the third year of the sixth Olympiad, and it is required to find the year before our era. Since five Olympic periods have elapsed, the third year of the sixth Olympiad is 5 × 4 + 3 = 23; therefore, subtracting 23 from 776, we have 753, which is the year before Christ to which the foundation of Rome is referred by Varro.﻿2d, When the event took place between the summer
solstice and the 1st of January following, the sum of the
Olympic year and of the year before Christ is equal to 777.
The difference therefore between 777 and the year in one
of the dates will give the year in the other date. Thus,
the moon was eclipsed on the 27th of August, a little
before midnight, in the year 413 before our era; and it is
required to find the corresponding year in the Olympic era.
Subtract 413 from 777, the remainder is 364; and 364
divided by four gives 91 without a remainder; consequently the eclipse happened in the fourth year of the
ninety-first Olympiad, which is the date to which it is
referred by Thucydides.﻿If the year is after Christ, and the event took place in
one of the first six months of the Olympic year, that is to
say, between July and January, we must subtract 776
from the number of the Olympic year to find the corresponding year of our era; but if it took place in one of
the last six months of the Olympic year, or between
January and July, we must deduct 777. The computation
by Olympiads seldom occurs in historical records after the
middle of the 5th century of our era.﻿The names of the months were different in the different
Grecian states. The Attic months, of which we possess
the most certain knowledge, were named as follows:—

Hecatombæon.

﻿

Gamelion.

Metageitnion.

Anthesterion.

Boedromion.

Elaphebolion.

Pyanepsion.

Munychion.

Mæmacterion.

Thargelion.

Poseideon.

Scirophorion.

Era of the Foundation of Rome.

﻿After the Olympiads, the era most frequently met with
in ancient history is that of the foundation of Rome, which
is the chronological epoch adopted by all the Roman
historians. There are various opinions respecting the year
of the foundation of Rome.﻿1st, Fabius Pictor places this event in the latter half of the
first year of the eighth Olympiad, which corresponds with
the 3967th of the Julian period, and with the year 747 B.C.﻿2d, Polybius places it in the second year of the seventh
Olympiad, corresponding with 3964 of the Julian period,
and 750 B.C.﻿3d, M. Porcius Cato places it in the first year of the
seventh Olympiad, that is, in 3963 of the Julian period,
and 751 B.C.﻿4th, Verrius Flaccus places it in the fourth year of the
sixth Olympiad, that is, in the year 3962 of the Julian
period, and 752 B.C.﻿5th, Terentius Varro places it in the third year of the
sixth Olympiad, that is, in the year 3961 of the Julian
period, and 753 B.C.﻿A knowledge of these different computations is necessary,
in order to reconcile the Roman historians with one another,
and even any one writer with himself. Livy in general
adheres to the epoch of Cato, though he sometimes follows
that of Fabius Pictor. Cicero follows the account of
Varro, which is also in general adopted by Pliny. Dionysius
of Halicarnassus follows Cato. Modern chronologers for
the most part adopt the account of Varro, which is
supported by a passage in Censorinus, where it is stated
that the 991st year of Rome commenced with the festival
of the Palilia, in the consulship of Ulpius and Pontianus.
Now this consulship corresponded with the 238th year of
our era; therefore, deducting 238 from 991, we have 753
to denote the year before Christ. The Palilia commenced
on the 21st of April; and all the accounts agree in regarding that day as the epoch of the foundation of Rome.﻿The Romans employed two sorts of years, the civil year,
which was used in the transaction of public and private
affairs, and the consular year, according to which the annals
of their history have been composed. The civil year commenced with the calends of January, but this did not hold
a fixed place in the solar year till the time of Julius Cæsar
(see vol. iv. p. 666.) The installation of the consuls regulated the commencement of the consular year. The initial
day of the consulate was never fixed, at least before the
7th century of Rome, but varied with the different accidents which in times of political commotion so frequently
occurred to accelerate or retard the elections. Hence it
happens that a consular year, generally speaking, comprehends a part not only of two Julian years, but also of two civil years. The consulate is the date employed by
the Latin historians generally, and by many of the Greeks,
down to the 6th century of our era.﻿In the era of Rome the commencement of the year is
placed at the 21st of April; an event therefore which
happened in the months of January, February, March, or
during the first twenty days of April, in the year (for
example) 500 of Rome, belongs to the civil year 501.
Before the time of the Decemvirs, however, February was
the last month of the year. Many authors confound the
year of Rome with the civil year, supposing them both to
begin on the 1st of January. Others again confound both
the year of Rome and the civil year with the Julian year,
which in fact became the civil year after the regulation of
the calendar by Julius Cæsar. Through a like want of
attention, many writers also, particularly among the
moderns, have confounded the Julian and Olympic years,
by making an entire Julian year correspond to an entire
Olympic year, as if both had commenced at the same
epoch. Much attention to these particulars is required in
the comparison of ancient dates.

The Christian Era.

﻿The Christian or vulgar era, called also the era of the
Incarnation, is now almost universally employed in
Christian countries, and is even used by some Eastern
nations. Its epoch or commencement is the 1st of January
in the fourth year of the 194th Olympiad, the 753d from
the foundation of Rome, and the 4714th of the Julian
period. It is usually supposed to begin with the year of
the birth of Christ, but there are various opinions with
regard to the year in which that event took place. This
epoch was introduced in Italy in the 6th century, by
Dionysius the Little, a Roman abbot, and began to be
used in Gaul in the 8th, though it was not generally
followed in that country till a century later. From extant
charters it is known to have been in use in England before
the close of the 8th century. Before its adoption the usual
practice in Latin countries was to distinguish the years by
their number in the cycle of Indiction.﻿In the Christian era the years are simply distinguished by the cardinal numbers; those before Christ being marked B.C. (Before Christ), or a.c. (Ante Christum), and those after Christ A.D. (Anno Domini). This method of reckoning time is more convenient than those which employ cycles or periods of any length whatever; but it still fails to satisfy in the simplest manner possible all the conditions that are necessary for registering the succession of events. For, since the commencement of the era is placed at an intermediate period of history, we are compelled to resort to a double manner of reckoning, backward as well as forward. Some ambiguity is also occasioned by the want of uniformity in the method of numbering the preceding years. Astronomers denote the year which preceded the first of our era by 0, and the year previous to that by 1 B.C.; but chronologers, in conformity with common notions, call the year preceding the era 1 B.C., the previous year 2 B.C., and so on. By reckoning in this manner, there is an interruption in the regular succession of the numbers; and in the years preceding the era, the leap years, instead of falling on the fourth, eighth, twelfth, &c., fall, or ought to fall, on the first, fifth, ninth, &c.﻿In the chronicles of the Middle Ages much uncertainty
frequently arises respecting dates on account of the
different epochs assumed for the commencement of the
Christian year. Dionysius, the author of the era, adopted
the day of the Annunciation, or the 25th of March, which
preceded the birth of Christ by nine months, as the commencement of the first year of the era. This epoch therefore precedes that of the vulgar era by nine months and seven days. This manner of dating was followed in some
of the Italian states, and continued to be used at Pisa even
down to the year 1745. It was also adopted in some of
the Papal bulls; and there are proofs of its having been
employed in France about the middle of the 11th century.
Some chroniclers, who adhere to the day of the Annunciation as the commencement of the year, reckon from the
25th of March following our epoch, as the Florentines in
the 10th century. Gregory of Tours, and some writers of
the 6th and 7th centuries, make the year commence some
times with the 1st of March, and sometimes with the 1st
of January. In France, under the third race of kings, it
was usual to begin the year with Easter; and this practice
continued at least till the middle of the 16th century, for
an edict was issued by Charles IX. in the month of
January 1663, ordaining that the commencement of the
year should thenceforth be considered as taking place on
the 1st of January. An instance is given, in L'Art de Vérifier les Dates, of a date in which the year is reckoned
from the 18th of March; but it is probable that this refers
to the astronomical year, and that the 18th of March was
taken for the day of the vernal equinox. In Germany,
about the 11th century, it was usual to commence the year
at Christmas; and this practice also prevailed at Milan,
Rome, and other Italian cities, in the 13th, 14th, and 15th
centuries.﻿In England, the practice of placing the beginning of the
year at Christmas was introduced in the 7th century, and
traces of it are found even in the 13th. Gervase of
Canterbury, who lived in the 13th century, mentions that
almost all writers of his country agreed in regarding
Christmas day as the first of the year, because it forms, as
it were, the term at which the sun finishes and recommences
his annual course. In the 12th century, however, the
custom of beginning the civil year with the day of the
Annunciation, or the 25th of March, began to prevail, and
continued to be generally followed from that time till the
reformation of the calendar in 1752. The historical year
has always been reckoned by English authors to begin with
the 1st of January. The liturgic year of the Church of
England commences with the first Sunday of Advent.﻿A knowledge of the different epochs which have been
chosen for the commencement of the year in different
countries is indispensably necessary to the right interpretation of ancient chronicles, charters, and other documents in
which the dates often appear contradictory. We may cite an
example or two. It is well known that Charles the Great
was crowned emperor at Rome on Christmas day in the
year 800, and that he died in the year 814, according to
our present manner of reckoning. But in the annals of
Metz and Moissac, the coronation is stated to have taken
place in the year 801, and his death in 813. In the first
case the annalist supposes the year to begin with Christmas,
and accordingly reckons the 25th of December and all the
following days of that month to belong to 801, whereas in
the common reckoning they would be referred to the year
800. In the second case the year has been supposed to
begin with the 25th of March, or perhaps with Easter;
consequently the first three months of the year 814,
reckoning from the 1st of January, would be referred to
the end of the year 813. The English Revolution is
popularly called the Revolution of 1688. Had the year
then begun, as it now does, with the 1st of January, it
would have been the revolution of 1689, William and Mary
being received as king and queen in February in the year
1689; but at that time the year was considered in England
as beginning on the 25th of March. Another circumstance
to which it is often necessary to pay attention in the comparison of dates, is the alteration of style which took
place on the adoption of the Gregorian Calendar (see vol. iv. pp. 671 sqq.)

Era of the Creation of the World.

﻿As the Greek and Roman methods of computing time
were connected with certain pagan rites and observances,
which the Christians held in abhorrence, the latter began
at an early period to imitate the Jews in reckoning their
years from the supposed period of the creation of the world.
The chronological elements on which both Jews and
Christians founded their computations for determining this
period were derived from the Old Testament narratives,
which have been transmitted to us through three distinct
channels. These are the Hebrew text of the Scriptures,
the Samaritan text, and the Greek version known as the
Septuagint. In respect of chronology, the three accounts
are totally irreconcilable with each other; and no conclusive
reason can be given for preferring any one of them to
another. We have no concurrent testimony with which to
compare them; nor is it even known which of them was
regarded as the most probable by the Jews themselves,
when the books of the Old Testament were revised and
transcribed by Ezra. The ordinary rules of probability
cannot be applied to a state of things in which the duration
of human life is represented as extending to nearly a
thousand years.﻿From computations founded on loose and conflicting
data it would be vain to look for knowledge or even
for concord of opinion. From the very nature of the case
discussion is hopeless labour. The subject is one to which
the saying Quot homines tot sententiæ applies with almost
literal truth. Des Vignoles, in the preface to his Chronology of Sacred History, asserts that he collected upwards
of two hundred different calculations, the shortest of which
reckons only 3483 years between the creation of the world
and the commencement of the vulgar era, and the longest
6984. The difference amounts to thirty-five centuries.
It suffices, therefore, to point out that the so-called era of
the creation of the world is a purely conventional and
arbitrary epoch; that, practically, it means the year 4004 B.C., this being the date which, under the sanction of Archbishop Ussher's opinion, has won its way, among its
hundreds of competitors, into most general acceptance.
The reader who is desirous of more detailed information on
this subject may consult the first volume of the Universal History, or L'Art de Vérifier les Dates, avant J. C., p. 9.

Jewish Year and Eras.

﻿Before the departure of the Israelites from Egypt their year commenced at the autumnal equinox; but in order to solemnize the memory of their deliverance, the month of Nisan or Abib, in which that event took place, and which falls about the time of the vernal equinox, was afterwards regarded as the beginning of the ecclesiastical or legal year. In civil affairs, and in the regulation of the jubilees and sabbatical years, the Jews still adhere to the ancient year, which begins with the month Tisri, about the time of the autumnal equinox. (On the regulation of the Jewish year, see vol. iv. p. 677.)﻿After their dispersion, the Jews were constrained to
have recourse to the astronomical rules and cycles of the
more enlightened heathen, in order that their religious
festivals might be observed on the same days in all the
countries through which they were scattered. For this
purpose they adopted a cycle of eighty-four years, which is
mentioned by several of the ancient fathers of the church,
and which the early Christians borrowed from them for
the regulation of Easter. This cycle seems to be neither
more nor less than the Calippic period of seventy-six years,
with the addition of a Greek octæteris, in order to disguise
its true source, and give it an appearance of originality.
In fact, the period of Calippus containing 27,759 days, and
the octæteris 2922 days (see vol. iv. p. 688), the sum, which is 30,681, is exactly the number of days in eighty-four
Julian years. But the addition was very far from being
an improvement on the work of Calippus; for instead of a
difference of only five hours and fifty-three minutes between
the places of the sun and moon, which was the whole error
of the Calippic period, this difference, in the period of
eighty-four years, amounted to one day, six hours, and
forty-one minutes. Buccherius places the commencement
of this cycle in the year 162 B.C.; Prideaux in the year
291 B.C. According to the account of Prideaux, the fifth
cycle must have commenced in the year 46 of our era;
and it was in this year, according to St Prosperus, that
the Christians began to employ the Jewish cycle of eighty-four years, which they followed, though not uniformly, for
the regulation of Easter, till the time of the Council of Nice.﻿Soon after the Nicene council, the Jews, in imitation of
the Christians, abandoned the cycle of eighty-four years,
and adopted that of Meton, by which their lunisolar year
is regulated at the present day. This improvement was
first proposed by Rabbi Samuel, rector of the Jewish school
of Sora in Mesopotamia, and was finally accomplished in
the year 360 of our era by Rabbi Hillel, who introduced
that form of the year which the Jews at present follow,
and which, they say, is to endure till the coming of the
Messiah.﻿Till the 15th century the Jews usually followed the era
of the Seleucidæ or of Contracts. Since that time they
have generally employed a mundane era, and dated from
the creation of the world, which, according to their computation, took place 3760 years and about three months
before the commencement of our era. No rule can be
given for determining with certainty the day on which
any given Jewish year begins, without entering into the
minutiæ of their irregular and complicated calendar. A
table comprising twelve cycles of Jewish years will be
found at pp. 678, 679 of vol. iv.

Era of Constantinople.

﻿This era, which is still used in the Greek Church, and
was followed by the Russians till the time of Peter the Great, dates from the creation of the world. The Incarnation falls in the year 5509, and corresponds, as in our era,
with the fourth year of the 194th Olympiad. The civil
year commences with the 1st of September; the ecclesiastical
year sometimes with the 21st of March, sometimes with
the 1st of April. It is not certain whether the year was
considered at Constantinople as beginning with September
before the separation of the Eastern and Western empires.﻿At the commencement of our era there had elapsed 5508
years and four months of the era of Constantinople.
Hence the first eight months of the Christian year 1 coincide
with the Constantinopolitan year 5509, while the last
four months belong to the year 5510. In order, therefore,
to find the year of Christ corresponding to any given year
in the era of Constantinople, we have the following rule:—If the event took place between the 1st of January and
the end of August, subtract 5508 from the given year;
but if it happened between the 1st of September and the
end of the year, subtract 5509.

Era of Alexandria.

﻿The chronological computation of Julius Africanus was
adopted by the Christians of Alexandria, who accordingly
reckoned 5500 years from the creation of Adam to the
birth of Christ. But in reducing Alexandrian dates to the
common era, it must be observed that Julius Africanus
placed the epoch of the Incarnation three years earlier than
it is placed in the usual reckoning, so that the initial day
of the Christian era fell in the year 5503 of the Alexandrian era. This correspondence, however, continued only
from the introduction of the era till the accession of
Diocletian, when an alteration was made by dropping ten
years in the Alexandrian account. Diocletian ascended
the imperial throne in the year of Christ 284. According
to the Alexandrian computation, this was the year 5787
of the world, and 287 of the Incarnation; but on this
occasion ten years were omitted, and that year was thence
forth called the year 5777 of the world, and 277 of the
Incarnation. There are, consequently, two distinct eras of
Alexandria, the one being used before and the other after
the accession of Diocletian. It is not known for what
reason the alteration was made; but it is conjectured that
it was for the purpose of causing a new revolution of the
cycle of nineteen years (which was introduced into the
ecclesiastical computation about this time by Anatolius,
bishop of Hierapolis) to commence with the first year of
the reign of Diocletian. In fact, 5777 being divided by
19 leaves 1 for the year of the cycle. The Alexandrian
era continued to be followed by the Copts in the 15th
century, and is said to be still used in Abyssinia.﻿Dates expressed according to this era are reduced to the
common era by subtracting 5502, up to the Alexandrian
year 5786 inclusive, and after that year by subtracting
5492; but if the date belongs to one of the four last
months of the Christian year, we must subtract 5503 till
the year 5786, and 5493 after that year.

Mundane Era of Antioch.

﻿The chronological reckoning of Julius Africanus formed
also the basis of the era of Antioch, which was adopted by
the Christians of Syria, at the instance of Panodorus, an
Egyptian monk, who flourished about the beginning of the
4th century. Panodorus struck off ten years from the
account of Julius Africanus with regard to the years of the
world, and he placed the Incarnation three years later,
referring it to the fourth year of the 194th Olympiad, as
in the common era. Hence the era of Antioch differed
from the original era of Alexandria by ten years; but
after the alteration of the latter at the accession of
Diocletian, the two eras coincided. In reckoning from the
Incarnation, however, there is a difference of seven years,
that epoch being placed, in the reformed era of Alexandria,
seven years later than in the mundane era of Antioch or in
the Christian era.﻿As the Syrian year began in autumn, the year of Christ corresponding to any year in the mundane era of Antioch is found by subtracting 5492 or 5493 according as the event falls between January and September or from September to January.

Era of Nabonassar

.

﻿This era is famous in astronomy, having been generally
followed by Hipparchus and Ptolemy. It is believed to
have been in use from the very time of its origin; for the
observations of eclipses which were collected in Chaldea
by Callisthenes, the general of Alexander, and transmitted
by him to Aristotle, were for the greater part referred to
the commencement of the reign of Nabonassar, founder of
the kingdom of the Babylonians. It is the basis of the
famous Canon of Kings, also called Mathematical Canon,
preserved to us in the works of Ptolemy, which, before
the recent astonishing discoveries at Nineveh, was the sole
authentic monument of Assyrian and Babylonian history
known to us. The epoch from which it is reckoned is
precisely determined by numerous celestial phenomena
recorded by Ptolemy, and corresponds to Wednesday at
mid-day, the 26th of February of the year 747 before
Christ. The year was in all respects the same as the
ancient Egyptian year. On account of the difference in
the length of the Julian and Babylonian years, the conversion of dates according to the era of Nabonassar into
years before Christ is attended with considerable trouble.
The surest way is to follow a comparative table. Frequently the year cannot be fixed with certainty, unless we
know also the month and the day.﻿The Greeks of Alexandria formerly employed the era of
Nabonassar, with a year of 365 days; but soon after the
reformation of the calendar by Julius Cæsar, they adopted,
like other Roman provincials, the Julian intercalation.
At this time the first of Thoth had receded to the 29th of
August. In the year 136 of our era, the first of Thoth
in the ancient Egyptian year corresponded with the 20th
of July, between which and the 29th of August there are
forty days. The adoption of the Julian year must therefore
have taken place about 160 years before the year 136 of
our era (the difference between the Egyptian and Julian
years being one day in four years), that is to say, about the
year 25 B.C. In fact, the first of Thoth corresponded with
the 29th of August in the Julian calendar, in the years 25, 24, 23, and 22 B.C.

Era of the Seleucidæ, or Macedonian Era.

﻿The era of the Seleucidæ dates from the time of the
occupation of Babylon by Seleucus Nicator, 311 years
before Christ, in the year of Rome 442, and twelve years
after the death of Alexander the Great. It was adopted
not only in the monarchy of the Seleucidæ but in general
in all the Greek countries bordering on the Levant, was
followed by the Jews till the 15th century, and is said to
be used by some Arabians even at the present day. By
the Jews it was called the Era of Contracts, because the
Syrian governors compelled them to make use of it in civil
contracts; the writers of the books of Maccabees call it the
Era of Kings. But notwithstanding its general prevalence
in the East for many centuries, authors using it differ much
with regard to their manner of expressing dates, in consequence of the different epochs adopted for the commencement of the year. Among the Syrian Greeks the year
began with the mouth Elul, which corresponds to our
September. The Nestorians and Jacobites at the present
day suppose it to begin with the following month, or
October. The author of the first book of Maccabees
makes the era commence with the month Nisan, or April;
and the author of the second book with the first Tishrin, or October. Albategni, a celebrated Arabian astronomer,
dates from the 1st of October. Some of the Arabian
writers, as Alfergani, date from the 1st of September.
At Tyre the year was counted from the 19th of our
October, at Gaza from the 28th of the same month, and at
Damascus from the vernal equinox. These discrepancies
render it extremely difficult to determine the exact correspondence of Macedonian dates with those of other eras;
and the difficulty is rendered still greater by the want of
uniformity in respect of the length of the year. Some
authors who follow the Macedonian era, use the Egyptian
or vague year of 365 days; Albategni adopts the Julian
year of 3651/4 days.﻿According to the computation most generally followed,
the year 312 of the era of the Seleucidæ began on the 1st
of September in the Julian year preceding the first of our
era. Hence, to reduce a Macedonian date to the common
era, subtract 311 years and four months.﻿The names of the Syrian and Macedonian months, and
their correspondence with the Roman months, are as
follows:—

Syrian.

⁠⁠⁠

Macedonian.

⁠⁠⁠

English.

Elul.

⁠⁠⁠

Gorpiæus.

⁠⁠⁠

September.

Tishrin I.

⁠⁠⁠

Hyperberetæus.

⁠⁠⁠

October.

Tishrin II.

⁠⁠⁠

Dius.

⁠⁠⁠

November.

Canun I.

⁠⁠⁠

Apellæus.

⁠⁠⁠

December.

Canun II.

⁠⁠⁠

Audynæus.

⁠⁠⁠

January.

Sabat.

⁠⁠⁠

Peritius.

⁠⁠⁠

February.

Adar.

⁠⁠⁠

Dystrus.

⁠⁠⁠

March.

Nisan.

⁠⁠⁠

Xanthicus.

⁠⁠⁠

April.

Ayar.

⁠⁠⁠

Artemisius.

⁠⁠⁠

May.

Haziran.

⁠⁠⁠

Dæsius.

⁠⁠⁠

June.

Tamus.

⁠⁠⁠

Panemus.

⁠⁠⁠

July.

Ab.

⁠⁠⁠

Loüs.

⁠⁠⁠

August.

Era of Alexander.

﻿Some of the Greek historians have assumed as a chronological epoch the death of Alexander the Great, which
took place in the year 325 B.C. The form of the year is
the same as in the preceding era. This era has not been
much followed; but it requires to be noticed in order
that it may not be confounded with the era of the Seleucidæ.

Era of Tyre.

﻿The era of Tyre is reckoned from the 19th of October, or
the beginning of the Macedonian month Hyperberetæus,
in the year 126 B.C. In order, therefore, to reduce it to
the common era, subtract 125; and when the date is B.C.,
subtract it from 126. Dates expressed according to this era
occur only on a few medals, and in the acts of certain
councils.

Cæsarean Era of Antioch.

﻿This era was established to commemorate the victory
obtained by Julius Cæsar on the plains of Pharsalia, on
the 9th of August in the year 48 B.C., and the 706th of
Rome. The Syrians computed it from their month Tishrin I.; but the Greeks threw it back to the month Gorpiæus
of the preceding year. Hence there is a difference of eleven
months between the epochs assumed by the Syrians and
the Greeks. According to the computation of the Greeks,
the year of the Cæsarean era began in the autumn of
the year preceding the commencement of the Christian era;
and, according to the Syrians, the 49th year began in the
autumn of the first year of the Incarnation. It is followed
by Evagrius in his Ecclesiastical History.

Julian Era.

﻿The Julian era commences with the 1st of January,
forty-five years B.C. It was designed to commemorate the
reformation of the Roman calendar by Julius Cæsar.

Era of Spain, or of the Cæsars.

﻿The conquest of Spain by Augustus, which was completed in the thirty-ninth year B.C., gave rise to this era, which began with the first day of the following year, and was long used in Spain and Portugal, and generally in all the Roman provinces subdued by the Visigoths, both in Africa and the South of France. Several of the councils of Carthage, and also that of Aries, are dated according to
this era. After the 9th century it became usual to join
with it in public acts the year of the Incarnation. It was
followed in Catalonia till the year 1180, in the kingdom of
Aragon till 1350, in Valencia till 1358, and in Castile till
1382. In Portugal it is said to have been in use so late as
the year 1415, or 1422, though it would seem that after the
establishment of the Portuguese monarchy, no other era
was used in the public acts of that country than that of the
Incarnation. As the era of Spain commenced with the 1st
of January, and the months and days of the year are those
of the Julian calendar, any date is reduced to the common
era by subtracting thirty-eight from the number of the
year.

Era of Actium, and Era of Augustus.

﻿This era was established to commemorate the battle of
Actium, which was fought on the 3d of September, in the
year 31 B.C., and in the 15th of the Julian era. By the
Romans the era of Actium was considered as commencing
on the 1st of January of the 16th of the Julian era, which
is the 30thB.C. The Egyptians, who used this era till the
time of Diocletian, dated its commencement from the
beginning of their month Thoth, or the 29th of August;
and the Eastern Greeks from the 2d of September. By
the latter it was also called the era of Antioch, and it continued to be used till the 9th century. It must not be
confounded with the Cæsarean era of Antioch, which began
seventeen years earlier. Many of the medals struck by the
city of Antioch in honour of Angustus are dated according
to this era.﻿Besides the era of Actium, there was also an Augustan
era, which commenced four years later, or 27 B.C., the year
in which Augustus prevailed on the senate and people of
Rome to decree him the title of Augustus, and to confirm
him in the supreme power of the empire.

Era of Diocletian, or Era of Martyrs.

﻿It has been already stated that the Alexandrians, at the
accession of the Emperor Diocletian, made an alteration in
their mundane era, by striking off ten years from their
reckoning. At the same time they established a new era,
which is still followed by the Abyssinians and Copts. It
commences with the 29th of August (the first day of the
Egyptian year) of the year 284 of our era, which was the
first of the reign of Diocletian. The denomination of Era of Martyrs, subsequently given to it in commemoration
of the persecution of the Christians, would seem to imply
that its commencement ought to be referred to the year
303 of our era, for it was in that year that Diocletian
issued his famous edict; but the practice of dating from
the accession of Diocletian has prevailed. The ancient
Egyptian year consisted of 365 days; but after the
introduction of the Julian calendar, the astronomers of
Alexandria adopted an intercalary year, and added six
additional days instead of five to the end of the last month
of every fourth year. The year thus became exactly
similar to the Julian year. The Egyptian intercalary year,
however, does not correspond to the Julian leap year, but
is the year immediately preceding; and the intercalation
takes place at the end of the year, or on the 29th of
August. Hence the first three years of the Egyptian
intercalary period commence on the 29th of our August,
and the fourth commences on the 30th of that month.
Before the end of that year the Julian intercalation takes
place, and the beginning of the following Egyptian year is
restored to the 29th of August. Hence to reduce a date
according to this era to our own reckoning, it is necessary,
for common years, to add 283 years and 240 days; but if
the date belongs to the first three months of the year
following the intercalation, or, which is the same thing, if
in the third year of the Julian cycle it falls between the
30th of August and the end of the year, we must add 283
years and 241 days. The Ethiopians do not reckon the
years from the beginning of the era in a consecutive series,
but employ a period of 532 years, after the expiration of
which they again begin with 1. This is the Dionysian or
Great Paschal Period, and is formed by the multiplication
of the numbers 28 and 19, that is, of the solar and lunar
cycles, into each other.﻿The following are the names of the Ethiopian or Abyssinian months, with the days on which they begin in the
Julian calendar, or old style;—

Masearam.

29th August.

⁠⁠⁠

Magabit.

25th February.

Tikmith.

28th September.

⁠⁠⁠

Miazia

27th March.

Hadar

28th October.

⁠⁠⁠

Gimbot

26th April.

Tacsam

27th November.

⁠⁠⁠

Sene

26th May.

Tir

27th December.

⁠⁠⁠

Hamle

25th June.

Yacatit

26th January.

⁠⁠⁠

Nahasse

25th July.

﻿The additional or epagomenal days begin on the 24th of
August. In intercalary years the first seven months commence one day later. The Egyptian months, followed by
the modern Copts, agree with the above in every respect
excepting the names.

Indiction.

﻿The cycle of Indiction, already explained at p. 670 of vol. iv., was very generally followed in the Roman empire
for some centuries before the adoption of the Christian era.
Three Indictions may be distinguished; but they differ
only in regard to the commencement of the year.﻿1. The Constantinopolitan Indiction, like the Greek
year, commenced with the month of September. This
was followed in the Eastern empire, and in some instances
also in France.﻿2. The Imperial or Constantinian Indiction is so called
because its establishment is attributed to Constantine.
This was also called the Cæsarean Indiction. It commences on the 24th of September. It is not unfrequently
met with in the ancient chronicles of France and England.﻿3. The Roman or Pontifical Indiction began on the
25th of December or 1st of January, according as the
Christian year was held to commence on the one or other
of these days. It is often employed in papal bulls,
especially after the time of Gregory VII., and traces of
its use are found in early French authors.

Era of the Armenians.

﻿The epoch of the Armenian era is that of the Council of
Tiben, in which the Armenians consummated their schism
from the Greek Church by condemning the acts of the
Council of Chalcedon; and it corresponds to Tuesday, the
9th of July of the year 552 of the Incarnation. In their
civil affairs the Armenians follow the ancient vague year
of the Egyptians; but their ecclesiastical year, which
begins on the 11th of August, is regulated in the same
manner as the Julian year, every fourth year consisting
of 366 days, so that Easter and the other festivals are
retained at the same place in the seasons as well as in the
civil year. The Armenians also make use of the mundane
era of Constantinople, and sometimes conjoin both methods
of computation in the same documents. In their correspondence and transactions with Europeans, they generally
follow the era of the Incarnation, and adopt the Julian
year.﻿To reduce the civil dates of the Armenians to the
Christian era, proceed as follows. Since the epoch is the
9th of July, there were 176 days from the beginning of
the Armenian era to the end of the year 552 of our era;
and since 552 was a leap year, the year 553 began a Julian
intercalary period. Multiply, therefore, the number of Armenian years elapsed by 365; add the number of days
from the commencement of the current year to the given
date; subtract 176 from the sum, and the remainder will
be the number of days from the 1st of January 553 to the
given date. This number of days being reduced to Julian
years, add the result to 552, and the sum gives the day in
the Julian year, or old style.﻿In the ecclesiastical reckoning the year begins on the
11th of August. To reduce a date expressed in this
reckoning to the Julian date, add 551 years, and the days
elapsed from the 1st of January to the 10th of August,
both inclusive, of the year 552,—that is to say (since 552
is a leap year), 223 days. In leap years, one day must be
subtracted if the date falls between the 1st of March and
10th of August.﻿The following are the Armenian ecclesiastical months
with their correspondence with those of the Julian
calendar:—

1.

Navazardi begins...

⁠⁠⁠

11th

August.

2.

Hori

⁠⁠⁠

10th

September.

3.

Sahomi

⁠⁠⁠

10th

October.

4.

Dre Thari

⁠⁠⁠

9th

November.

5.

Kagoths

⁠⁠⁠

9th

December.

6.

Aracz

⁠⁠⁠

8th

January.

7.

Malegi

⁠⁠⁠

7th

February.

8.

Arcki

⁠⁠⁠

9th

March.

9.

Angi

⁠⁠⁠

8th

April.

10.

Mariri

⁠⁠⁠

8th

May.

11.

Marcacz

⁠⁠⁠

7th

June.

12.

Herodiez

⁠⁠⁠

7th

July.

﻿To complete the year, five complementary days are added in common years, and six in leap years.

The Mahometan Era, or Era of the Hegira.

﻿The era in use among the Turks, Arabs, and other
Mahometan nations is that of the Hegira or Hejra, the
flight of the prophet from Mecca to Medina, 622 A.D. Its
commencement, however, does not, as is sometimes stated,
coincide with the very day of the flight, but precedes it by
sixty-eight days. The prophet, after leaving Mecca, to
escape the pursuit of his enemies, the Koreishites, hid
himself with his friend Abubekr in a cave near Mecca, and
there lay for three days. The departure from the cave
and setting out on the way to Medina is assigned to the
ninth day of the third month, Rabia I.—corresponding to
the 22d of September of the year 622 A.D. The era begins
from the first day of the month of Moharram preceding the
flight, or first day of that Arabian year, which coincides
with Friday, July 16, 622 A.D. It is necessary to remember that by astronomers and by some historians the
era is assigned to the preceding day, July 15. It is stated
by D'Herbelot that the era of the Hegira was instituted by
Omar, the second caliph, in imitation of the Christian era
of the martyrs. (For details of the Mahometan year, names
and length of months, and for the method of reduction of
Mahometan dates to Christian, see vol. iv. pp. 679–681).

Era of Yezdegird, or Persian or Gelalæan Era.

﻿This era commences with the elevation of Yezdegird III.
to the throne of Persia, on the 16th of June in the year of
our era 632. Till the year 1079 the Persian year resembled that of the ancient Egyptians, consisting of 365
days without intercalation; but at that time the Persian
calendar was reformed by Gelal-ed-din Malek Shah, sultan
of Khorasau, and a method of intercalation adopted which,
though less convenient, is considerably more accurate than
the Julian. The intercalary period is 33 years,—one day
being added to the common year seven times successively
at the end of four years, and the eighth intercalation being
deferred till the end of the fifth year (see vol. iv. p. 667).
This era was at one period universally adopted in Persia,
and it still continues to be followed by the Parsees of
India. The months consist of thirty days each, and each
day is distinguished by a different name. According to
Alfergani, the names of the Persian months are as follows:—

Afrudin-meh.

Merded-meh.

Adar-meh.

Ardisascht-meh.

Schaharir-meh.

Di-meh.

Cardi-meh.

Mahar-meh.

Behen-meh.

Tir-meh.

Aben-meh.

Affirer-meh.

﻿The five additional days (in intercalary years six) are named Musteraca.﻿As it does not appear that the above-mentioned rule of
intercalation was ever regularly followed, it is impossible
to assign exactly the days on which the different years
begin. In some provinces of India the Parsees begin the
year with September, in others they begin it with October.
We have stated that the era began with the 16th June
632. But the vague year, which was followed till 1079,
anticipated the Julian year by one day every four years.
In 447 years the anticipation would amount to about 112
days, and the beginning of the year would in consequence
be thrown back to near the beginning of the Julian year
632. To the year of the Persian era, therefore, add 631,
and the sum will be the year of our era in which the
Persian year begins.

Chinese Chronology.

﻿From the time of the EmperorYaou, upwards of 2000 years B.C., the Chinese had two different years,—a civil year, which was regulated by the moon, and an astronomicalyear, which was solar. The civil year consisted in general of twelve months or lunations, but occasionally a thirteenth was added, in order to preserve its correspondence with the solaryear. Even at that early period the solar or astronomicalyear consisted of 3651/4 days, like our Julian year; and it was arranged in the same manner, a day being intercalated every fourth year.﻿According to the missionaryGaubil, the Chinese divided the day into 100 ke, each ke into 100 minutes, and each minute into 100 seconds. This practice continued to prevail till the 17th century, when, at the instance of the JesuitSchall, president of the tribunal of mathematics, they adopted the European method of dividing the day into twenty-four hours, each hour into sixty minutes, and each minute into sixty seconds. The civil day commences at midnight and ends at the midnight following.﻿Since the accession of the emperors of the Handynasty, 206 B.C., the civil year of the Chinese has begun with the first day of that moon in the course of which the sun enters into the sign of the zodiac which corresponds with our sign Pisces. From the same period also, they have employed, in the adjustment of their solar and lunaryears, a period of nineteen years, twelve of which are common, containing twelve lunations each, and the remaining seven intercalary, containing thirteen lunations. It is not, however, precisely known how they distributed their months of thirty and twenty-nine days, or, as they termed them, great and small moons. This, with other matters appertaining to the calendar, was probably left to be regulated from time to time by the mathematical tribunal.﻿The Chinese divide the time of a complete revolution of the sun with regard to the solstitial points into twelve equal portions, each corresponding to thirty days, ten hours, thirty minutes. Each of these periods, which is denominated a tsëĕ, is subdivided into two equal portions called chung-ki and tsie-ki, the chung-ki denoting the first half of the tsëĕ, and the tsie-ki the latter half. Though the tsëĕ are thus strictly portions of solartime, yet, what is remarkable, though not peculiar to China, they give their name to the lunarmonths, each month or lunation having the name of the chung-ki or sign at which the sun arrives during that month. As the tsëĕ is longer than a synodic revolution of the moon, the sun cannot arrive twice at a chung-ki during the same lunation; and as there are only twelve tsëĕ, the year can contain only twelve months having different names. It must happen sometimes that in the course of a lunation the sun enters into no new sign; in this case the month is intercalary, and is called by the same name as the preceding month.﻿For chronological purposes, the Chinese, in common with some other nations of the east of Asia, employ cycles of sixty, by means of which they reckon their days, moons, and years. The days are distributed in the calendar into cycles of sixty, in the same manner as ours are distributed into weeks, or cycles of seven. Each day of the cycle has a particular name, and as it is a usual practice, in mentioning dates, to give the name of the day along with that of the moon and the year, this arrangement affords great facilities in verifying the epochs of Chinese chronology. The order of the days in the cycle is never interrupted by any intercalation that may be necessary for adjusting the months or years. The moons of the civil year are also distinguished by their place in the cycle of sixty; and as the intercalarymoons are not reckoned, for the reason before stated, namely, that during one of these lunations the sun enters into no new sign, there are only twelve regular moons in a year, so that the cycle is renewed every five years. Thus the first moon of the year1873 being the first of a new cycle, the first moon of every sixth year, reckoned backwards or forwards from that date, as 1868, 1863, &c., or 1877, 1882, &c., will also commence a new lunar cycle of sixty moons. In regard to the years, the arrangement is exactly the same. Each has a distinct number or name which marks its place in the cycle, and as this is generally given in referring to dates, along with the other chronological characters of the year, the ambiguity which arises from following a fluctuating or uncertain epoch is entirely obviated. The present cycle began in the year1864 of our era; the year 1876 is consequently the 13th of the current cycle.﻿The cycle of sixty is formed of two subordinate cycles or series of characters, one of ten and the other of twelve, which are joined together so as to afford sixty different combinations. The names of the characters in the cycle of ten, which are called celestial signs, are—

1. Keă; 2. Yĭh; 3. Ping; 4. Ting; 5. Woo;

6. Ke; 7. Kăng; 8. Sin; 9. Jin; 10. Kwei;

and in the series of 12, denominated terrestrial signs,

1. Tsze; 2. Chow; 3. Yin; 4. Maou; 5. Shin; 6. Sze;

7. Woo; 8. We; 9. Shin; 10. Yew; 11. Seŭh; 12. Hae.

﻿The name of the first year, or of the first day, in the sexagenary cycle is formed by combining the first words in each of the above series; the second is formed by combining the second of each series, and so on to the tenth. For the next year the first word of the first series is combined with the eleventh of the second, then the second of the first series with the twelfth of the second, after this the third of the first series with the first of the second, and so on till the sixtieth combination, when the last of the first series concurs with the last of the second. Thus Keă-tsze is the name of the first year, Yĭh-chow that of the second, Keă-seuh that of the eleventh, Yĭh-hae that of the twelfth, Ping-tsze that of the thirteenth, and so on. The order of proceeding is obvious.﻿In the Chinese history translated into the Tatar dialect by order of the emperorKang-he, who died in 1721, the characters of the cycle begin to appear at the year 2357 B.C. From this it has been inferred that the Chinese empire was established previous to that epoch; but it is obviously so easy to extend the cycles backwards indefinitely, that the inference can have very little weight. The characters given to that year 2357 B.C. are Keă-shin, which denote the 41st of the cycle. We must, therefore, suppose the cycle to have begun 2397 B.C., or forty years before the reign of Yaou. This is the epoch assumed by the authors of L'Art de Vérifier les Dates. The mathematical tribunal has, however, from time immemorial counted the first year of the first cycle from the eighty-first of Yaou, that is to say, from the year2277 B.C.﻿Since the year 163 B.C. the Chinese writers have adopted the practice of dating the year from the accession of the reigning emperor. An emperor, on succeeding to the throne, gives a name to the years of his reign. He ordains, for example, that they shall be called Ta-te. In consequence of this edict, the following year is called the first of Ta-te, and the succeeding years the second, third, fourth, &c., of Ta-te, and so on, till it pleases the same emperor or his successor to ordain that the years shall be called by some other appellation. The periods thus formed are called by the Chinese Nien-hao. According to this method of dating the years a new era commences with every reign; and the year corresponding to a Chinese date can only be found when we have before us a catalogue of the Nien-hao, with their relation to the years of our era.﻿The Chinese chronology is discussed with ample detail by Freret, in the Memoirs of the Academy of Inscriptions, tom. xviii.; and an abridgment of his memoir is given in L'Art de Vérifier les Dates (tom. ii. p. 284, et seq.; ed. in 4to, 1818), from which the preceding account is principally taken.

Indian Chronology.

﻿The method of dividing and reckoning time followed by
the various nations of India resembles in its general
features that of the Chinese, but is rendered still more
complex by the intermixture of Mahometan with Hindu
customs. Like the Chinese, the Hindus have a solar year,
which is generally followed in the transaction of public
business, especially since the introduction of European
power; and they have also a lunar year, which regulates
their religious festivals, and which they follow in their
domestic arrangements. Their solar year, or rather sidereal
year, is measured by the time in which the sun returns to
the same star, and is consequently longer than our astronomical year, by the whole quantity of the precession of
the equinoxes. It is reckoned by the Hindus at 365 days,
6 hours, 12 minutes, 30 seconds, and consequently exceeds
a Gregorian year by one day in sixty years. The Indian
zodiac is divided into twelve solar and twenty-eight lunar
signs; and the year begins with the sun's arrival at the
first degree of the first sign. The month is the time the sun
takes to pass through one sign; and as each sign contains
the same number of degrees, the months vary somewhat in
length, according as the sun is nearer the apogee or the
perigee. The longest month may contain 31 days, 14 hours,
39 minutes, and the shortest only 29 days, 8 hours, 21
minutes. The civil months, however, depend solely on
the moon; though, with the same perversion of ingenuity
which we have already remarked with regard to the
Chinese, and of which it would be difficult to find an
example except in the east of Asia, they derive their names
from the solar signs of the zodiac. The first civil month
commences with the day after the full moon of that lunation in the course of which the sun enters the first Hindu
sign, and so on with the others. When the sun enters
into no new sign during the course of a lunation, the month
is intercalary, and is called by the name of that which precedes or follows it, which some prefix to distinguish it from
the regular month. In some provinces of India, as in
Bengal, the civil mouth commences with the day after the new moon; but in the upper or northern provinces, it
begins, as we have stated, with the day after the full moon.
From the manner in which they are reckoned, it is evident
that the Hindu months, both solar and lunar, neither consist of an entire number of days, nor are regulated by any
cycle, but depend solely on the motion of the sun and
moon. The time of their commencement is different on
every different meridian; and a Hindu has no means of
knowing beforehand on what day any month begins,
excepting by consulting his almanac. The civil day in all
parts of India begins at sunrise.﻿The Hindu eras have been the subject of much controversy. According to the dreams of Indian mythology,
the duration of the world is limited to four yugs or ages,
three of which have already passed, and the fourth, which
is the kali-yug, is the last and most deteriorated. It is
this only which has any reference to authentic chronology.
It forms the principal era of India, and comprehends
several others in common use, as the era of Vicramaditya,
the era of Salivahana, the Bengalee era, and the cycle of
sixty years.﻿The Kali-yug commenced in the year 3101 B.C. The
year is sidereal, and begins when the sun enters the first
sign of the Hindu zodiac, which at present happens about
the 11th of April. Owing to the precession of the equinoxes
the beginning of the year advances in the seasons at the
rate of about one day in sixty years.﻿The Era of Vicramaditya is reckoned from the year 57 B.C., which corresponds to 3044 of the Kali-yug. This
era, the years of which are called Samvat, prevails chiefly
in the higher or northern provinces of India, and in
Guzerat. Its name is derived from, that of a sovereign of
Malwa, who, by defeating Saka, king of Delhi, acquired
possession of the principal throne of India. Whether the
year from which it is reckoned was that of the accession or
death of this prince is uncertain. The years are reckoned
in the same manner as those of the Kali-yug; and it may
be remarked of the Indian eras in general that, though
some of them profess to be counted from the deaths of
their kings, or other historical events, they all commence
at the time the sun reaches the same point in his annual
course through the zodiac.﻿The Era of Salivahana is the year 78 A.D., which
corresponds to 3179 of the Kali-yug, and 135 of the
Vicramaditya. The name is derived from Salivahan, who
is said to have reigned many years over the kingdom of
Narsinga, and to have been a liberal encourager of the arts
and sciences. It is generally used in records or writings
of importance, but is most prevalent in the southern
provinces of Hindustan. The years are called Saka.﻿The Fuslee Era, from the near coincidence of its dates
with those of the Hegira, seems to have been imposed on
the natives of India by their Mahometan conquerors. It
is principally used in revenue transactions, and is pretty
generally known over India. There are several eras of this
name; but the most common is that which is reckoned
from the year 590 A.D. At Madras the commencement of
the Fuslee year is fixed on the 12th of July. In Bengal it
begins in September, or with the full moon preceding the
autumnal equinox.﻿The Bengalee Era is also supposed to be derived from
the Hegira; but the year is measured by solar time, and
therefore differs entirely from the Mahometan year, which
is purely lunar. At the present time the Bengalee epoch
is about nine years later than the Hegira,—the year 1245
of the Hegira having commenced in July 1829, and the
Bengalee year 1236 in April 1829. The sidereal year
exceeds the lunar year by 10 days 211/2 hours nearly; consequently, by reckoning backwards, it will be found that
the dates of the Bengalee era and of the Hegira coincided
about the middle of the 16th century. History is silent
on the subject; but it seems probable, that though the
epoch of the Hegira was partially adopted in India, the
Hindus pertinaciously resisted all attempts to disturb their
ancient methods of reckoning the subdivisions of the
year.﻿Besides the Indian eras here enumerated, there are some
others which are less generally known, or which are
followed only in particular provinces. The cycle of sixty
years is also sometimes used, particularly in connection
with the era of Vicramaditya. According to the Bengal
account, the first cycle began 3185 years B.C.; and the year
1876 of our era is consequently the twenty-first of the
eighty-fifth cycle. In the Telinga account the first cycle
began 3114 B.C.; and the year 1876 is the tenth of the
eighty-fourth cycle.﻿Fuller information regarding Indian chronology will be
found in Prinsep's Essays on Indian Antiquities (1858), vol. ii., Warren's Kala Sankalita (1825), and Burnett's Elements of South Indian Palæography (1874).

Of the principal events of political and military history, with notices of great men and famous books, and of the most important inventions and discoveries, from the earliest times to the close of the year 875.

﻿Chronological tables, however unattractive to minds whose inclinations or occupations do not lie in the direction of them, are of much value and real interest for those who have knowledge and occasion to make a right use of them. To the historical student they not only serve as a storehouse of individual facts with dates, but by the orderly juxtaposition and sequence of these they indicate relations. They are maps on which are delineated or suggested the lines of the main currents in the ocean of humanhistory. When the student, engaged on any special series of events, desires to find their place and surroundings in world-history, he has but to turn to such tables, and a glance or two will inform him.﻿In the preparation of the subjoined table great pains have been taken to bring it as closely as possible into agreement with the results of recent historical and chronological determinations. Events and dates of purely legendary character, once accepted as historical facts with unquestioning acquiescence, have no place in it; and the whole has been subjected to a searching examination and comparison with the best sources of information. The conflict of the authorities makes absolute certainty in many cases unattainable. The reader will therefore remember in using the table, that, as differences and authorities cannot be given, the dates are necessarily in some cases approximate or probable only.